This year was my third year of braiding onions with my mom. I love that this has become a tradition for the two of us! I have not bought an onion in two years which is saying something because we use so many onions in this house. Every year I watch the same, calm, old man in England who walks me through the steps once again. Honestly it is not difficult. Like most things, at first it feels awkward, but once you get in the groove, these things just make you look and feel like Ma Ingalls.
This year we doubled our onions so it took three different braiding sessions to get them all hung. We enlisted my dad for prep support and in the end, I had Elsie braiding onions like a pro. Which makes this a full-fledged intergenerational farm project, my favorite kind of them all.
I keep a pair of scissors by the canning supplies and cut down my onions when I need them. It’s helpful because it gets me down our rickety steps so I can check in on the lego situation and be informed, in great detail, of all the new Lego creations being built down there.
3 comments
It’s fantastic you are doing this with your mom!! Wonderful that your daughter is joining too! Let me tell you how Blessed you are to being raising your young family on a farm. I wanted to live out in the country and raise our children there, and we did, on Lake Shasta in far northern California. Right now I’m enjoying gardening, orcharding, and having hens that I wasn’t doing when raising our children. I’ve learned so much during these years AFTER my children grew up and left home, about staying connected to the land, that I wish I’d known when we first had them. I’m somewhat comforted that they were raised in the great outdoors, and I homeschooled them for 22 years. You’re doing a great job, and I’m learning each onion crop to braid better and better. I know God is Blessing you!
I watched the whole calm Englishman’s onion stringing video! This inspires me to grow onion and garlic here… such a staple for every meal. I will have to ask you about storage the next time I see you, but I think our basement would work fine.
Go for it! Onions are about the easiest crop to grow–naturally antibiotic and pest resistant! And you can grow a lot in a small space.